Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS) Stock Holdings Lessened by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 849,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,214 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Fortis worth $35,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Fortis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $149,000. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fortis by 55.1% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,069 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 7,130 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Fortis by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,890,184 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $131,330,000 after purchasing an additional 250,630 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Fortis by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 1,074,643 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $44,631,000 after purchasing an additional 60,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Fortis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Fortis Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Fortis stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $48.59. 409,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,456. Fortis Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.15 and a fifty-two week high of $48.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.99.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fortis had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 7.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fortis Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4324 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Fortis's payout ratio is currently 72.03%.

Fortis Company Profile

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.